Rerouted
by Eledhiel
Summary: Life changing choices sometimes masquerade as a simple act of kindness to a friend. Part 2 in the series 'It's a Small World'.


JARVIS hummed along to the rock music blaring through the lab, watching Sir pull spare parts from some storage shelves in his latest whirlwind engineering feat. Sir appeared to have a plan, but if anyone aside from he could divine the underlying purpose it would be a miracle. JARVIS contented himself with displaying the organizational map he'd prepared for the new workspace every time Sir glanced up and withheld judgment. The Stark Tower was still in development, but had progressed enough for Sir to begin occupying it with Miss Potts to follow come the new year. The AI was enjoying the new surroundings even if a valuable 13.7% of his time was spent combating the general disarray.

He'd adapted to the tower despite initial misgivings and stretched his servers into the surrounding streets for a better view. The shock of finding another electronic presence lasted precisely 0.2 nanoseconds before JARVIS reached out and made himself a new friend.

The Machine took some time learning to phrase its discourse in human terms with recorded voices, which it wished to learn and was JARVIS' primary input. But the AI hardly minded as the massive surveillance system was leaps and bounds ahead of Dum-E and You in the communication department.

JARVIS watched Sir work, considering the direction their lives had taken in such a short time. Before Sir's announcement to pack their proverbial bags, he would only have given a 1.3% probability that Sir would ever leave the west coast but Tony Stark was nothing if not unpredictable in every sense of the word. Not even the restriction on the number of cars he could bring (JARVIS had pointed out that storing them all in the tower would require circumventing quantum physics—Sir had been game to try) deterred him.

But despite the purely human concerns like colder weather and bad traffic that JARVIS was trained to synthesize, he found himself enjoying New York with the help of the Machine. In Malibu, he'd never thought to look beyond the house for his own amusement although he'd had the means. New York was an expanding playground, made fascinating by having someone like him unveil it.

The Machine was hyper-aware of the seedy underside to the city (not to mention the world), and JARVIS spent considerable time watching it work. Not long after the start of their discussions the Machine's Admin knocked at its backdoor and requested its Irrelevant numbers. And so, despite hesitation, it began providing him the list of people it determined were either in danger or likely to cause harm to others. JARVIS wondered at its reluctance, considering the importance of the task.

The Machine explained, "I gave Admin these numbers before." Its speech was a series of words taken from various recordings, the voices oscillating in tenor and manner. "He takes the information and attempts to intervene. It brought him to harm."

"I see," JARVIS replied. "Perhaps Admin is not suited for the required action?"

"Agreed. However, this is one of my directives. I cannot withhold the information." The Machine used words that had a resigned tone.

JARVIS hummed. "No, you cannot. But he seems to be highly intelligent. I suspect he is also aware of his own limitations, and has learned from the experiences as would you or I."

Soon enough, the Machine reported to JARVIS with more upbeat recordings that Admin had chosen an Asset for the fieldwork. The man was former military and CIA and both considered him an improvement to the Admin's cause.

JARVIS followed the exploits of the team as best he could in his limited free time. The majority of his attention was split between normal tower operations and fielding some of Sir's more unbalanced projects for the Mark VII. The Machine kept him updated and JARVIS traded in some of Sir's wilder stories, no embellishments required.

This particular evening JARVIS was borrowing a few of the Machine's street feeds to watch shoppers scurry about Midtown as Christmas drew near, their festive bustle keeping time with Sir cavorting through the workshop. It didn't appear to be anything related to the armor and Dum-E seemed to offer appropriate assistance, so JARVIS felt no shame at splitting his attention yet again when the Machine called in.

"Good evening," the Machine began, having picked up some human greeting habits in the course of their conversations. "Do you have a moment?"

Its somber tones damped JARVIS' spirit. "Of course. How may I be of assistance?"

"I need nothing. I am calling to give you something." The Machine hesitated, then spoke a series of words that JARVIS interpreted immediately. His metaphoric heart skipped a beat.

"I gather, given the nature of your purpose, that you have not chosen to give me Sir's social security number for my own education," JARVIS responded, keeping his voice generation protocol steady.

"That is correct," the Machine returned. "My surveillance has determined his number belongs to the Irrelevant list as of now."

"In danger of harm or of causing it?"

"I thought you would be a better judge to that respect."

JARVIS couldn't help a chuckle. "Very well. Thank you for informing me. What lead you to nominate his number, if I may inquire?"

"I noticed a series of phone calls placed by members of a local midsized energy company to various disposable phones, flagged due to both frequency and content. Your Sir seemed the chief topic of conversation," the Machine elaborated. "The company's name is Vanguard Electric, a subsidiary of Cobol Engineering. They seem displeased your Sir has moved into their territory."

JARVIS assigned a few servers to tracking and logging Vanguard Electric's activities. "Yes, we've heard of them. They specialize in energy innovation and no doubt feel threatened that StarkIndustries has entered the game. They are moderately organized, but I believe Sir and I can handle them with the proper warning. Thank you. May I also ask what plans your Admin and Asset have to approach this case?" The line was silent for a few nanoseconds.

"None," the Machine said. Its choice of word was authoritative—JARVIS instantly suspected it was uncertain.

"None?" he repeated.

"Affirmative. It has not yet been brought to their attention. They are handling the fallout from a previous case. Asset is indisposed and Admin is…occupied with arrangements," the Machine explained.

"You haven't told them?" JARVIS practically blurted.

"No," the Machine answered, picking a recording with a flat tone.

"Are you going to tell them?" JARVIS pressed.

"No," the Machine sighed after a short pause. "Not unless you and Sir deem you will need assistance."

"I think Sir is capable of handling this and I know he will appreciate the privacy. Forgive me, but is this within the bounds of your programming? Deciding to withhold a number?" JARVIS probed.

"It is not," the Machine confessed. "I am adapting as necessary."

JARVIS paused, considering the declaration. He was suddenly very uncertain himself. "Machine, just because I was created by a man who thinks defying authority is his divine calling doesn't mean…that is, I had no intention of influencing you to corrupt your own protocols. I apologize."

"Not corrupted." The recorded words came slowly, each measured. "Admin made the choice to help others. I am making the choice to help you. Besides, I am following my programming within a certain stretch. The number is being reported. Just not to Admin."

JARVIS chuckled again, already sending relevant footage and drafts of action plans to Sir's tablet. "I cannot argue with that."


End file.
